Since the end of World War Two, a staggering array of synthetic hormones, tranquilizers, and antibiotics, has been used to treat meat, poultry, and fish.
The most common hormone used for this purpose—diethylstilbesterol, or DES—was given as a medicine to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage. It is now known that the substance has caused cancer in the children of women who used it, the so-called “DES babies.” The United States government is now waging a major campaign to warn such children, the potential victims, of the danger that was incurred.
For years, however, this hormone and other related substances, such as Ralgro and Zeranol, were implanted in chickens, cattle, and sheep to make them grow fatter and come to market sooner. Industry has argued that only minute amounts of the chemicals were left in the meat which reached the consumer. But a growing number of scientists countered that it only took a few parts per billion to cause cancer in experimental animals.5
In addition to the use of hormones, it is common practice to inject animals with tranquilizers just before they are slaughtered and to dip certain foods (such as fish) in an antibiotic solution, to prevent them from spoiling. One of my patients became sick from eating store-bought fish. One day, her husband went deep sea fishing and brought back some fresh bluefish. She had no adverse reaction to this fish and soon learned that she could eat most freshly caught fish with impunity. She could also eat pieces of large commercial fish which were sawed into small portions while still frozen. Her problem apparently arose from the antibiotic solution which the industry routinely uses to treat smaller fresh fillets.
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